Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1887-02-07

again in the Junction House Each though
the ether had been killed. Smith ESCAPED
through window and before he hat
been housed and clothed caught q Sc
yere cold from exposure and his pri!n
elpal danger now is from pneumonfa
+ His face was slightly burned and he had ar
extremely narrow escape from death by FIRE.
His chest was somewhat injured and his back
is affected and now the cold having settled
upon his lungs he breathes With extreme
difficulty. Among others who were brought
| to the house were G. III. Hosmer of Lowell.
His left leg was injured and he was badly
shaken up, but was able this afternoon to
take train for home. Joseph Maiaaet, of
Three Rivers, Que, is also at the house. grd
his brother is here from Holyoke looking
after him and his fathers corpse. Henry
| Mott, of Albaugh, is at the hotel with bad
" injured head and lame back. Mr.. Mott
is quite well known throughout the State,
| having been active in politics. James
Jaeqtes is in room 90. He came from
Fitchburg and was goiHg to Montreal. His
right eye is terribly cut and his left leg and
arm are seriously bruised Andrew a.
Wheeler, of Fitchburg, was travelling with
Jacques and has a badly injured face and
head. He is roomed with Jacdues snd the
| TWO are receiving every attention.
A slckening spectacle was revealed to the
visitors who docked to the scene on the news
OF the disaster. Before them imbedded in
| the melted ice was the twisted iron work of
the four cars which had gone down TO de-
struction and carried death to half hundred
| or more. Where they lay were great pools
OF water caused by the melting of the ice by
| the heat from the burning cars. The fourth
car from the rear, or one Of the day coaches,
was entirely destroyed. What litt1e re-
manned was hidden beneath a little lake of
water upon the surface of which doated
embers, bits of burned clothing and pieces
of charred human flesh. 1t was impossible
to get at this car, but gang of men will go
to work upon it tomorrow and will drag
the depths for the bodies of those who
were in it. 1t is thought that at least twenty
If not more corpses will be taken out of this
charnel pool. So far as is known not a soul
escaped from this car. It Is possible that
there may be many rs forty bodies under
meath the debris sunk in this pool. At pres
emit nothing can be seen but the burned
trucks one set turned in one direction and
the other in another. In the other three cars
mixed up with the debris the unacceptable
masses of human flesh could be seen
in numbers from two to ten. The
work of removing the charred corpses
from the 1uins was not begun until about 3
o'clock Saturday afternoon upon the arrival
of Governor gingree and the members of the
Vermont railroad commission. Upon the
receipt of the news of the disaster at st. Al
bans a special train was made up to go to the
scene of the accident. Upon this special
were toVernof HlnSree, eX Governor dfegO-
ry Smith, president of the Central Vermont
railroad; E. c. Smith, second vice president;
John w. Hobart, general manager; j. NJ.
Foss, general superintendent; Railroad Com
missioner Fletcher, Alfred G. Watson, clerk
of the commission, and Mr.. o. M. Tinkam,
agricultural editor Of the Waterman and
journal OF Montpelier. They left St. Albans
at noon and arrived upon the scene at $780,
The officials made careful examination of
what remained of the bridge and collected
some testimony regarding its stability.
ALI were satisfied that the bridge
was safe at the time of the accident. They
also endeavored to ascertain the cause of the
accident. Engineer Pierce, as most of the
passengers think, is of the belief that it was
caused by broken rail about twenty rods
from the bridge. Others are of the opinion
that the accident caused by broken
journal on the Pullman Puritan. This was
the last car of the train, but it is known to
have been the first car to leave the track and
it is argued that broken rail would have
thrown the first car instead of the last. This
point, however, may never be settled. The
official inspectors next visited the blackened
wreck upon the ice. Picking their way
carefully among the debris of the Puritan
they discovered the remains of no less than
six bodies which they could pick out, some
times by their distinct resemblance to the
human form and sometimes by seeing
fragments of thigh bones, ribs and
heads. Undertaken Johnson of Hartford,
accompanied the party. He and his men
picked out the remains as fast as possible
and put each body separately in box.
These charred bodies were thoroughly
burned that it was impossible to even tell
their gender in some instances. Some made
scarcely handful. They picked up these 4
bodies, or rather what remained of them, and
went to the next car, the Pullman St. Al
bans, which came from Springfield. In this
car k6
Undoubtedly they were thrown out. They
were reduced to such state that they could
scarcely be discerned from the rest of the
debris. No doubt many persons were burned
to absolutely nothing. These bodi s like the
rest were tenderly placed in boxes and left
on the ice waiting to be removed
to Johnson's dead house From there
the party started for the third CIR from
the rear on the day coach, but as this
was entirely submerged in water they could
make no investigation. The fourth car, the
last one, was the next visited. Here was
presented the most horrifying sight of all.
No less than twelve bundles of burned flesh
charrsd out of all human shape were found.
In the rear end of what had been the six
bodies were found all punched together.
These passengers had either huddled around
the stove to keep warm or they had tried to
make their escape from the rear door and
could not get out. There they had died like
all had been killed outright and SO did not
suffer the agonies of death by fire. In the
middle of the car two more burned bodies
were found and in the forward end four more.
Mr.. Watson, who was of this party, believes
that other bodies will be found in these ruins.
All the bodies were placed in wooden boxes,
they being the only receptacle at hand, and
were taken to Johnson's dead house in Hart
ford. There were thirty one of the boxes.
The boxes were piled up one upon another
as there were SO many that there was NO
room for all on the floor. Some of the re-
mains were mere handfuls, others were too
large for the boxes. The bodies presented a
most sickening sight as they lay there burned
to a crisp and seemingly beyond all possible
It was with feeling of hor-
ror that the spectators turned away and
sought the cold air outside. These bodies
will be kept for while for Identification and
if not claimed will be buried in the town lot
here.
Thousands of spectators viewed the scene
of the disaster to-day. The Inhabitants for
many miles around came in wagons and
sleighs and gazed on the rui.s for hours.
the balance but few bear any mark by which
they can be identified. Conductor Sturte- |
want died to-day. Trains will be sent for
the present by the Welles River or the Rut- |
land route. The new bridge will probably |
cost $50, 900 and the loss on rolling stock |
Will pTODaDly Do SOO,OOV rive hoTe UOoicS |
were recovered from the wreck to day. Four |
are those of men and one of woman. After |
a careful scrutiny of all the char
red remains to-day the physicians |
agreed that they are those of thirty two per-
sons, including the five mentioned. There |
are thirty five injured now under treatment. |
One of the injured died to-day. Nine slight |
ly injured have left. This accounts for sew |
enty- seven persons. The most care full COM |
parison of estimates by the railroad officials |
indicates that there were eighty-one persons /
in the cars which went off the bridge. This !
would leave only four persons still unac-
counted for, unless the number be swelled |
somewhat by children who were travelling |
without tickets. All requests for informa- |
ton if addressed to Henry E. Turner, station |
agent, White River Junction, will receive |
prompt attention. Watchmen employed by |
the railroad are guarding the wreck to pre-
vent thieving and to preserve relics and |
means of Identification Engineer P;erce's
statement that he slowed down before reach |
ing the bridge is fully sustained by all the
witnesses to the disaster.
The following additional names of killed
are ascertained: Cephas Mills of Iroquois;
. Boulanger of Holyoke, young girl; A.